Phoenix Down: Burning Day
by XxRoadKillxX
Summary: Preq PDOotA:Cloud is reminiscing about Life: trying to move on after another battle with Sephiroth. Living with a strange foreboding that he's not sure for What or When, the exSoldier just has a feeling that he needs to train Reno after a mission of his went bad. With Strange Dreams and a Storm from the Lifestream, Cloud has to make some tough choices. After AC before DoC. Yaoi RxC


AN: And here's a prequel to Phoenix Down: Out of the Ashes. This is 90% FVII, 10% HP, so I'm hesitant to put this in the crossover category. Let me know what you think! (The dog is based after my own who is named Ianto-I think you know from where)

Phoenix Down: Burning Day

WARNINGS: **Cloud/Reno Yaoi** (nothing too explicit but it's there), lots of conversation (and odd conversations), texting, odd history revelations, odd revelations, and strange dreams...

* * *

There was something in the air that has Cloud on edge. He hides it; he doesn't want to put Tifa on edge as well. She would call up the gang and they'd be worrying over nothing, because, to Cloud, it was just a feeling. It wasn't the same feeling he felt after Sephiroth the First Time, after he had woken up from sleeping for a week, that had been in the air; it was similar and and yet different—no Jenova maybe? Aeris had said that she was gone now.

Cloud wanted to believe her.

Jenova was a fucking cockroach.

More and more often now he found himself sitting on a butte in the Wastes outside of Midgar; head tilted back catching the sun while the wind played with his blond, spiky hair. The feeling of being up high where no one could find him was something he had done as a kid after his chores so the village kids wouldn't, couldn't, catch him; their parents a little more aware of their surroundings and scolding their kids for going into the woods.

He had loved his mother.

She hadn't been very aware of the Here and Now though.

Doing some research at the Library that was still intact in Midgar, for something to do—not admitting that he was hiding from admirers that actually recognized him—had shown that Nibelheim was one of the oldest villages that ShinRa had gained control over. Their histories, going back almost as far as Wutia's had, had stayed almost the same despite the influx of new theologies from ShinRa workers for the Reactor and people that moved to the area to get away from the city.

He wondered if he could be royalty...

Maybe that's why The Planet had, through twisted, torturous events, made him Her champion.

Probably not. _Who knows_ , the Zack voice in his head whispered with a shrug.

Cloud shook his head.

Their names were in Old Nibel, but he was sure he saw his family name, Samgangr, and Steif in Nibel, if some of the necklaces he wore from his mother were anything to go on. Fingering one through his top, Cloud remembered when Reno had given him a box last time he had been at Seventh Heaven. Said it had been in Lost and Found. When Cloud had opened it, there was a flash of memory across his vision of him setting up his desk by his bunk when he had first gone to ShinRa all those years ago; setting several necklaces in a dish that was supposed to be for writing supplies, the silver of the name-engraved pendants flashing in the florescent lights.

He had blinked hard a few times before suddenly asking Reno where his ruck-sack had gotten to. Reno looked thoughtful for a moment, eyes distant as if going through what he had seen when he found the box, before saying, "S'gotta be there. I'll take a look fer it," exhaling his clove half way through his reply.

Speaking of, Cloud was broken out of his reverie by the loud growling of a motorcycle down-shifting. Blinking the sun out of his eyes, he looked down to see the aforementioned redhead. Cloud smiled. He was getting better.

"Looking for something?"

Startling Reno was always hilarious.

The Turk flinched violently and jumped, and Cloud ducked; Reno having fired his gun at the perceived threat. Cloud peered over the edge the butte to see Reno; gun cocked and pointed at him with his EMR braced against the weapon to send a Bolt or Diamond if the bullet didn't work. Realizing it was Cloud and not a ravening beast out to kill-maim-eat him, Reno sighed, disengaged his gun before the Turk returned it to its holster and letting his arm fall that had his ERM on it.

"Rahmu, Cloud," He swore as he parked his bike near Fenrir, not that he could see the monstrous custom bike, and looked at the butte Cloud was sitting on. "How the fuck'd you get up there?"

Cloud smirked. "I jumped."

Reno swore again and eyed the butte, eyeing the small ledge that Cloud had used. It was easier to see from where Cloud was sitting than where Reno was standing. Still, Reno braced himself and jumped into the air, just managing to grab the ledge. Once he hauled himself up, he found a few nooks and crannies that he used to climb to the top. He removed his blazer and threw it on the ground before plopping on it next to where Cloud was sitting, panting and swearing.

Cloud chuckled.

"You're getting better," he murmured just loud enough for Reno to hear.

The Turk scoffed. "Sometimes I wonder wha' ya see in me that ya subject me ta this shit n' why I need it."

Cloud just shrugged. "You just will."

Reno eyed him as the wind played through his bangs. "Someone tell ya?"

Cloud shook his head and Reno sighed. Cloud lent his head back again, and Reno fished through his blazer for his smokes. Finding his pack of cloves, he pulled his lighter out of his pocket and lit one, letting the spicy smoke fill his lungs before exhaling. The Turk opened his eyes to see glowing blue eyes watching him as he took another drag.

"Ya ever gonna tell me why ya started draggin' me all over Gaia making me do all this..." Reno waived his hand, looking for the word and just leaving it as it was.

Cloud watched him for a moment, smoke curling from his mouth as he exhaled again. "No." Reno scowled. The redhead didn't press because there was an unspoken 'maybe later' hanging in the air. He sighed, blowing smoke before taking another drag thinking back to when Cloud had started this all.

The blond had found him after a job that hadn't gone the best. The criminals that he had been chasing had shot him up the drugs that he was trying to arrest them for. His natural resistance had allowed him to finish the job and bring them in for booking, but his usual celebratory drinks had been cut short as they had finally hit his system, something he wasn't currently used to. The Turk had choked on his Cosmo Candle, the shot a concentrated mixed-spirit named after the Canyon, before stumbling out of the bar with the bottle he had purchased at the beginning for his walk home.

He didn't remember too well how he had run into Cloud; he had been fighting off some unsavory characters in an alley that he probably shouldn't have gone down in his state, but one moment he was putting a guy down, the next he was looking into glowing eyes listening to a familiar voice saying, "Your lit like a bonfire, Reno," before the feeling of weightlessness overtook him. Broken consciousness told him Cloud had taken him somewhere, but Reno's memories had been too splintered to know where or how. At one point he thought he heard Cloud and Aeris talking, and he swore he heard Zack in there as well, which made him wonder if he was dying because he remembered burying the man that had been his friend.

Then there had been Fire and Cold.

He opened his eyes in a white walled, sparsely decorated room, groaning at the stiffness in his limbs and the ache in his head that told him it had been at least a full day since he had smoked. He had days without before, and while it wasn't comfortable, it had been necessary at times for the jobs Veld, then Rufus and Tseng had sent him on. Rolling over had shown Cloud sitting twisted in a chair with his arm slung over the back, watching him with those glowing blue eyes of his. The drapes were over the windows making it quite dark; Cloud had been working with a Lightening materia charged but not released. Looking back, Reno was pretty sure that the materia had been for his benefit. The Turk had watched, he was supposed to be helping, Cloud working into the night before with nothing but the glow of his eyes.

Cloud had proceeded to tell him that Aeris had saved his life, but had had to douse him in the Lifestream before releasing him to the healing waters in her church in Sector Six. The Lightstick Bust was talked about for a long time. The chemicals in the drug made the body more susceptible to the Street Mako that was also in the drug; giving a stronger, longer high than Street Mako by itself. The amount that he had been shot up with had given him such a case of Mako poisoning that Aeris had had to use the Lifestream to cleanse the chemicals out of his system to let his body naturally process the impure Mako.

His eyes just glowed a bit more now; not like a Soldier's, and not visible during the day like Cloud's were.

Turks were enhanced, Reno knew that; had even taken the shots like the other Turks had when they had completed their preliminary training. Hojo had been interested in him more than the other Turk Initiates because of the already present amount of Mako in his system from his Ma being hooked on a crude Slum drug that used it. His reactions to the Turk Shots had been less than the other Initiates. Old Man ShinRa had had to tell Hojo to lay off him so that he could do the jobs he'd been hired for as a Turk, with Veld threatening to make Hojo get his own specimens at his own expense.

Reno shook his head, clearing the memories and just enjoying being in Clouds presence. He flicked the ash off the end of his clove before inhaling again and glancing at the exSoldier. He looked so young with his eyes closed and his face to the sky. Thinking about it, Cloud didn't look his 24 years at all; and Reno was sure he only drank at the Heaven because he was known and wouldn't get carded.

"How did you find me?" Cloud's voice broke through his daydreaming. Blue eyes were thin slits as they peered sideways at Reno.

The Turk shrugged. " Dunno how ta explain; it's more than a feeling, but kinda like a sound?"

Cloud hummed in response.

Reno flicked the butt of his clove over the edge of the butte before pulling out another one and lighting up. Inhaling to get it started, he put the lighter back in his pocket before saying, "it was easier to find ya this time." He blew a smoke ring.

Cloud turned to look at him, a strange look in his eyes.

"What?" Reno asked as he took another drag. He was starting to get the creeps as Cloud just kept staring at him, before the blond jerked the opposite way body language changing to be more alert. Blue eyes roamed the horizon and his head tilted the opposite way. Sometimes Reno wondered _what_ Hojo had been experimenting _with_ on Zack and Cloud.

"We gotta go," Cloud said abruptly, and before Reno knew what had happened, the exSoldier had grabbed his arm and lept off their ledge. He yelled obscenities until his feet hit the ground again.

"The fuck?!" Reno shrieked at the blond fighter.

"You have anything you can't live without on your bike?"

"No! I fucking borrowed it from the damn Garage!" Reno spat as Cloud dragged him over to Fenrir.

"You're going to have to do some explaining when you don't come back with it," Cloud said as he dragged Reno onto the bike with him, revved it up, and peeled away from the butte; already in second gear. Reno swore as Cloud wove between the buttes as fast as he dared with Reno riding along. When they got to the Flats, much faster than Reno had ever gotten there before from the Buttes, he glanced over Clouds shoulder and swore.

"Fuck."

The sky was black.

Not only that, but the wind before the storm was pushing a wall of dirt and sand along in front of the rain. And while Cloud was pushing his custom bike to speeds most vehicles couldn't hope to ever match, the storm was still gaining on them.

A hand was around his shoulders as Cloud abruptly turned the bike sharply left, running more parallel to the storm than towards Midgar. Reno almost fell, but being hugged to the bike by both Cloud's body and his hand did wonders for stability. It was a strange experience; as being a passenger on a bike typically was behind the driver. Glancing up, he saw where Cloud was aiming for.

It looked like there may have been a fight between two Midgar Zoloms at one point before The Flats became airid and desolate. There were large furrows in the ground from something large getting impacted and doing impacting. But what it had done was create troughs and peaks in the ground where time had worn out a cave. Cloud downshifted to launch his bike into the furrow that would take them to the cave, and there was a loud ping just as the rear tire left the ground.

They were out of time.

The debris came just as they landed in the furrow, and the roaring growl behind it told them the rest of the dust storm would be upon them in moments. Cloud had pulled his goggles down and Reno did the same just as the storm hit. Reno could barely see and he prayed that Cloud got them to the cave that seemed forever away now. He yelped and swore as Cloud abruptly downshifted and swerved, almost at a perfect right angle.

The silence in the cave, with the occasional thunk and chittering of flying debris, was almost as unnerving as the storm.

Cloud got up and Reno followed, groaning as he stretched. Cloud shook his head and shut Fenrir down before stretching himself and, with Reno behind him, walked further back into the cave. A sudden flash of bright light made the darkness all the more complete when it left.

The rain came with a deafening roar of thunder.

Reno shivered as the wind brought a fine mist with it, and the Turk kept following Cloud out of range of it and the howling wind. After a short walk, they reached the back. It had curved to the point where you couldn't see the entrance any more. Reno threw his blazer on the ground and flopped on it, hands above his head while Cloud leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Cloud's eyes lit the cave a soft bright blue.

A sharp click and crackle had Cloud watching Reno as he lit one of his cloves. He just raised an eyebrow at the Turk as the smoke gently spiraled to the top of the cave.

"How'd ya know tha' storm was coming?" The Turk asked.

Cloud just shrugged. "When you have more Mako than blood, you tend to be more aware of certain things."

"Vague." Reno flicked the ash of his clove before taking another drag.

Cloud just gave him a look. "How do you think you can find me?"

The Turk just shrugged. "I don't typically think 'bout it."

Cloud gave him a pointed look before turning to his bike. Opening a compartment, he fished around before finding a few hunks of charcoal. Pulling one out, Cloud went to the wall and went to find where he'd stopped last time he was here.

Reno watched him looking at the wall and noticed that there was writing around the cave. Finding a particularly vulgar bit on the ceiling, he let out a low chuckle. Cloud stilled.

"What's so funny?"

"Were ya pissed at Tifa or Yuffie? I can't pick the name out," Reno asked as he flicked his clove again and took a long drag.

Cloud just looked at him, looked back at the ceiling to see what he was talking about, before looking back at Reno. "Tifa," He answered. "You can read the Nibleheim languages?"

Reno nodded. "Took 'em in school. Didn't wanna take anything that could'a been used in real life. There was a few other kids in my class with the same idea or to piss off their parents." He blew a smoke ring. "I think one kid wanted to be a historian or sumthin'. Haven't seen him in a while."

::"Why so down, warrior?":: Cloud asked in the gutteral, rounded language of Old Nibel.

Reno snorted. ::"As if I'm a warrior"::

::"One who fights for family and home is a warrior,":: Cloud replied, setting the charcoal down and taking a step towards Reno. It'd been so long since he'd talked to anyone.

::"I've never had a home,":: Reno snorted as he took another drag on his clove. He looked up to see that Cloud had sat down next to him. There was an odd look in his eyes, but at the same time a strange uncertainty.

Cloud ran his hand through Reno's hair. ::"Everyone has a home somewhere,":: he said softly.

Reno took it as the invitation it seemed like, bringing his head up and thoroughly kissing Cloud. If he was wrong, at least he could say that he had kissed Gaia's Hero, not that his close friends ever called him that, and not gotten killed for it.

But Cloud was kissing him back, hand fisted in his hair; goggles clinking together that were on their foreheads. It wasn't a soft kiss like when one kissed women; like the time he'd kissed Cissnea, or that one time he kissed Elena when she'd been drunk There was no fighting for dominance, there was no vying. It was just an 'I'm here'.

Reno couldn't remember a time when someone didn't want something from him. The freedom of being able to choose whether to give or take was a heady sensation.

He ran his hands up Cloud's arms, the hands of which were still entangled in his hair and doing wonderful things to his head. He rubbed the blond's shoulders, ghosting down his sides getting a hum and shivers for his efforts. Playing with the hemline between Cloud's belt and his sweater, Reno felt razor thin scars along his soft skin. Splaying the hand along the small of the blond's belt, he started to run his hand up up Cloud's spine when something wet hit his hand. Breaking the kiss and pulling his hand away, rubbing the viscous fluid between his fingers, Reno identified it be smell.

"Yer bleedin'." It was a statement on the part of the Turk.

Cloud kept one hand in his hair and cupped his cheek with the other, thumb rubbing circles near his scar. He dipped his face to trace it with his nose before he whispered in his ear, "It's not serious."

And as Cloud ran his tongue around the shell of Reno's ear, the Turk thought that, to Cloud, it probably wasn't serious. He'd seen the man heal a compound fracture in a day or two with only a basic splint.

Teeth grazed the bottom of his ear and he moaned. Teeth and tongue found the sensitive skin behind his ear and the Turk's breath hitched. He raked his nails up Cloud's back and the exSoldier shuddered and moaned.

Reno was glad that his jacket was already off.

* * *

Reno woke up naked with his tie around his neck.

He was also rather warm for being naked, and then he realized what he thought was a twisted up blanket was in fact, a person's arm. Then he remembered he was with Cloud, and the amazing sex that they had had.

And he was sleeping on dirt and sand.

He could already feel it in uncomfortable places, but the limited water that was found in the Wastes wasn't safe to drink or submerge in. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes. Cloud seemed content to keep sleeping, and he might as well too if the arm around his waist wasn't moving any time soon.

Reno next woke up to the soft scratching associated with writing. Slowly opening his softly glowing eyes, he looked around the blue-lit cave to see Cloud at a wall again with charcoal. It took Reno a minute to decipher the writing, but he only got the gist of it.

"Wha'sit mean?" He asked. "I can only make out 'the' and 'him'."

"That's because those words are a carryover into the Nibel language that you probably studied." Cloud replied as he kept scratching at the cave wall. "This is the language before that."

"Eh?" he shook out his pants and pulled them on.

"My mother only every spoke Common when she went to the market and taught me it to do the same," Cloud explained. "I only ever spoke Old Nibel and Nibel at home. I actually had a hard time when I first went to ShinRa because I didn't know what some of the teachers and my Squad mates were saying."

"Huh," Reno said as he shook out his shirt. "I just had ta learn ta "speak proper"," and Reno made the quote sign with his fingers, as if repeating something that had been told to him too many times, "or so Tseng and Veld said. I thought I spoke jus' fine." Reno took his tie off and stuffed it in his pocket. "I thought ya had a accent when I helped Zack n' you pull that one prank."

Cloud just gave him a blank look.

Reno looked at him sideways. "Nevermind."

"Which one?" Cloud asked slowly, as if he wanted to know but didn't want to hear the answer.

"The one where we rigged what's his face's shower?" Reno asked back.

Recognition flashed in Cloud's eyes after a minute. "Oh. Yeah. I can't believe you remembered that."

A devious look overcame Reno's face. "How could I not've? I had an adorable blond and a sexy brunette at my disposal."

Cloud made a face. "I wasn't adorable."

Reno laughed.

As Reno was lacing up his boots, Cloud walked to the bend in the cave and carefully looked down to the entrance. Coming back, he threw what little he had taken from his bike and stowed it away leaving the charcoal where it was sitting on a little ledge, likely to use it the next time he came here. Reno had one last look around the cave now that the storm had passed and there was a little more light. The walls were absolutely covered in symbols, drawings, and writing; some he could understand and some he couldn't.

"Come on," Cloud said as he walked Fenrir past the Turk. The redhead followed him out.

There were ruts in the ground where the rain had carved new paths as well as rocks that hadn't been there before from the dust storm at the front of the thunder storm. The walls were impossibly steep.

"How're we getting' out?" The Turk asked as he hefted his EMR, ready for any monsters that may be out hunting.

"There's a path around down the washout and around the next butte over,"Cloud explained, gesturing vaguely, as he checked his bike over before pulling his goggles down over his eyes. Reno followed Cloud's example and pulled his down as well before walking over to Fenrir and, after Cloud had settled himself on the massive bike, he mounted it behind him, wrapping his arms around the exSoldier so as not to fall off. "Ready?"

"Now'r never," Reno replied.

Cloud started the massive machine, revving it, before kicking up the stand and shifting into gear; gassing it as he went. They peeled out of the washout, gravel and sand flying up behind them.

ShinRa issue bikes went fast, and Reno had tinkered with his and had replaced a few things and it definitely went faster than Rude's bike did. His bike, however, didn't go as fast as Fenrir. The massive black machine was pushing the limits of second gear and it was already almost as fast as his in fourth. Cloud swerved around some larger boulders and then shifted into third as he turned right up a washout; shale and scree flying behind him as he hit the gas. Once at the top, Cloud down shifted and glanced back over his shoulder.

"Do you want to see if your bike made it through the storm?"

"Sure," Reno replied. "Tha' way I don't get in trouble."

Cloud gave him a look.

Reno smirked. "Never signed it out, though it's mine."

Cloud turned back around and shook his head. Reno tightened his grip as the exSoldier hit the gas again, shifting back into third, bearing right towards some buttes in the distance, and shifting again when the engine began whining. Reno laughed. It was almost like flying; there was a wonderful sense of freedom that came with the speed.

Cloud bore right, and, just as Reno was getting used to the dust that was thrown up, there was nothing. He whooped in delight as Cloud landed the great bike, a chuckle just making it back to Reno on the wind.

After a a few more jumps and weaving around buttes, the familiar colour of Reno's bike appeared. Slowing down and down-shifting, Cloud pulled up alongside the bike. Some of the paint had been worn off, but on the whole, it looked in good shape.

"Jus' looks like I need ta blow some sand off'a it an' it'll be fine," Reno said after he had walked around the bike.

"I think I have something you could use," Cloud said as he rummaged through one of Fenrir's compartments. He pulled out a small device and, after turning it on, gave it to Reno. The Turk proceeded to blow the sand and dirt of his bike.

"That's pretty useful," Reno commented as he pulled a clove out of its package and lit it. Exhaling the smoke as he checked his bike over again now that the sand was off of it.

"It's an air mattress pump," Cloud simply replied as he watched the redhead walk around his bike once more.

"Wanna race back?" Reno asked with a sly smile.

Cloud snorted. "You don't stand a chance."

"Pfft," Reno scoffed. "Jus' 'cause yer bike's faster, don't mean tha' I dunno a faster way."

Cloud raised his eyebrow and the proclamation. Did Reno forget that he ran a _delivery_ service? That the whole point of it was to get the package to its destination as fast as possible?

"Don't gimme that look!" Reno exclaimed as he flicked the butt of his clove away. "I've had my fair share of missions out this way. Remember; I'm older than you."

Cloud smirked as he swung a leg over Fenrir and revved the engine. "You know you get rather articulate when you're mad?"

Reno swore as he pulled another clove out of the pack in his pocket. "Herd it before."

Cloud revved Fenrir's engine, waiting for Reno. After Reno had swung a leg over his bike, the Turk put the cigarillo in his mouth as he started up his own bike. The exSoldier narrowed his eyes as the tone of the Turk's bike was not what it was supposed to be. Perhaps it would be an interesting race after all. Reno glanced over at him, seeing his narrowed eyes, and smirked: the black cigarillo being held between his teeth.

In the distance, a desert hawk shrieked as it dove after some other flying creature. Reno and Cloud watched it as it dove, faster and faster. When it hit the creature it was hunting, Cloud and Reno peeled out of their spots, tires screeching and engines whining as their RPMs flew before each shifted and they calmed as the two flew across The Wastes. Cloud glanced over at Reno to catch a sly smirk from him before he suddenly veered away from him and disappeared around a butte.

Cloud swore heavily before shifting and pushing his bike ever faster.

* * *

They ended up in a tie.

Reno had taken some obscure short cut through a cave system that Cloud didn't know existed that a Zolom had probably created. Cloud had just pushed his bike to as fast as it would go veering around buttes and jumping over valleys. Reno just lit his smoke and grumbled about cheaters.

Cloud glared at him.

"What?" Reno said after an exhale. "Ya know that if ya had a reg'lar bike like mine you'd never had a chance."

Cloud snorted. "As if your bike is 'regular'."

Reno took a drag and exhaled. "Yer right."

Reno then launched into how he had modified it without changing the shell to make it seem like it hadn't been modified at all. "'N' then I putt'a silencer onnit so it still sounded like a reg'lar standard issue bike."

Cloud nodded. He was a bit impressed with the work that Reno had shoved under the case. He whistled. "That's really good, Reno; it looks like you did nothing."

Cloud looked from the bike back to Reno, question on his face and sin in his eyes. Reno, lascivious smile on his face, took a step towards Cloud when a cell phone ring rent the air, loud and offensive. Cloud raised an eyebrow at the offensive song as Reno swore, fishing through his various pockets trying to find the offending device. Finally locating it, Reno looked at the screen before thumbing to answer it.

"Y'ello?"

"Where are you?" came the faint sound of Tseng's voice through the receiver. Cloud's enhanced hearing had him listening in without trying.

"M' out," was Reno's vague reply.

Tseng sighed. "I wouldn't be calling you if I knew where you were," his cultured voice responded. "If you're not back at The Tower by 21:00, Rufus may call and I'd hate for that to happen to you." The receiver went dead.

Reno looked at his PHS. "Tseng never hangs up. Weird." He pulled a clove out of his pack and lit it. "What time's it?" the Turk asked Cloud as he exhaled.

Cloud looked at his own PHS before smirking. "It's 20:27."

Reno swore. Turning back to his motorcycle, the Turk shoved the key in the ignition, revving the engine to life. Looking back at Cloud, the redhead gave the blonde a salacious wink, before peeling out and heading to the ShinRa Tower on the other side of town. "He'll be lucky to make it by 21:00," Cloud said to no one. Shrugging, he followed Reno's example. Revving Fenrir, Cloud made his way towards Seventh Heaven. He wondered how Denzel was doing…

* * *

 _He was in the woods; tall ancient trees allowing small trees and bushes to grow beneath them. Cloud was walking through the underbrush on an animal trail, getting creepy déjà vu of Nibelheim. The air was more humid than he was used to, but that tang that came with the ever present snow on the surrounding mountains assured Cloud that he, at least, was not going to experience some horror of his childhood._

 _Breaking into a clearing, the blond looked around. There was something wrong about it. Narrowing his eyes, Cloud stayed at the brush line, out of sight of the anything in the clearing with his Soldier eyes still able to see, studying the clearing to see if he couldn't find the source of his unease. The only thing that stood out to him was a blemish in the grass on the far side to his right. Curious now, why was the blemish there?, Cloud made to step out of the clearing, but a soft light coming from across the clearing had him stopping. When it broke into the clearing, Cloud's eyes went wide._

 _It couldn't be anything other than a unicorn. And where Cloud was astonished at seeing one, he was floored when four more silver adults and a gold foal followed the first into the clearing. When they reached the blemish, the five adults bowed their heads so their horns touched the ground. Whickering, the unicorns seemed to make a song out of it, silver haze swirling around the blemish on the ground. When it reached a crescendo, the hazy mist coalesced into the shape of one of their own, a fallen herd mate?, rearing and trumpeting in a hazy, far off way. The rest of the herd echoed their fallen comrade, watching as the haze fell back to the blemish on the ground._

 _They turned to leave as one, trotting back the way they came, the foliage seemingly parting to allow the beautiful animals passage. The golden foal was behind the rest of the herd, and before the foal entered the woods, it turned and looked straight at Cloud, freezing the exSoldier in place. Giving a small whinny in its young voice, the young animal made to step towards him before turning back and following its calling parents into the brush._

 _The dream changed suddenly, as dreams often do. Cloud was now sitting in what looked like a castle courtyard. Children in uniforms walked about, but the only kids that were in focus were three. The exSoldier couldn't hear what they were saying, which surprised him. He always heard everything that was within certain proximity._

 _Suddenly, the kid with glasses and messy hair looked at him, and Cloud's eyes widened again when his bright blue met a very deep green…_

Cloud sat bolt upright in bed, panting and covered in sweat. What in the names of Minerva and the Lifestream was that? Rubbing his face in his hands, Cloud sighed. It was much too…he glanced at the clock. It happily declared 03:45. Early. It was much too early. Tifa would have finished closing the bar a little over an hour ago.

Sighing, Cloud threw the blankets off himself and swung his legs over the side of his bed. Padding out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom, Cloud turned on the tap and threw cold water on his face. What had that strange dream been about? Looking up, the exSoldier made a face at his appearance in the mirror. Cloud ran a hand through his hair, unruly as it was.

There was no way that he was going back to sleep after that dream at this hour. Shaking his head, Cloud left the bathroom and headed towards his office, hoping there were no early deliveries that came through while he was out with Reno.

There was one for Junon near the end of the week, and one to Icicle Inn the middle of the following week.

Throwing a shirt on over his sweat pants, Cloud headed down stairs to the private area of Seventh Heaven that was the home for the orphans Tifa rescued. he pulled a list of chores that Tifa wanted him to do from a magnet on the fridge. He might as well get work done since he couldn't sleep.

When Denzel woke up, he looked out his window like he did every morning, and saw what he had always hoped to see; a giant motorcycle. Whooping in delight, the child changed out of his pajamas, threw clothes on, and ran down the stairs as fast as he could.

"Cloud!" he cried as, turning into the kitchen to see the exSoldier turn towards him, he flung himself at the man in a glomping hug. Cloud, catching the boy, spun Denzel in a circle eliciting delighted laughter from the boy. "Stop it Cloud!" Denzel shrieked in joy.

Smiling, Cloud put Denzel down, happy that the child was finally happy. With the Geostigma the two of them had, between the pain and the burning, neither of them wanted to do much of anything, despite Cloud still having to run his business. Not wanting his friends to see him suffer, Cloud had all but disappeared, much to the dismay of the kids that still looked for him when they could.

"I made eggs for breakfast," Cloud told Denzel, as he portioned some onto two plates.

"Is that sausage?" Denzel asked as the two sat down at the table.

"I brought it from Fort Condor," Cloud said, taking a bite of eggs. Smiling, the kid put a large portion of sausage on his plate, with a small helping of cottage cheese and an apple. Whenever Cloud got the chance to cook, he always cooked what he'd always eaten growing up; a habit he couldn't seem to break no matter how homesick it made him. Cloud ate slowly, watching as Denzel inhaled his food.

Denzel looked at Cloud, dawning realization on his face. "You're leaving," he simply said, misery on his face.

Cloud slowly nodded. "I have a delivery in Junon the end of the week, so I'll probably leave tomorrow or early the day after."

Denzel looked at his empty plate. "Can I help you with Tifa's chores?"

Cloud smiled. "Yeah."

The two put their plates in the sink and left out the back door. Cloud needed to do some tune-ups on Fenrir and fix a few gutters. As the two walked towards the shed where Cloud parked his motorcycle, His PHS beeped. Pulling it out of his pocket as Denzel grabbed the tool box, Cloud saw a text from Reno.

' _Mission days ttyl_ ' it read. He really should try to use punctuation. Periods at least, Cloud thought. Deleting it, the exSoldier walked his bike out of shed.

* * *

It was in the middle of the night two days later that Cloud left for Junon. Flying out of Midgar and across the plains, his PHS beeped again. Ignoring it for the time being, Cloud headed for a cave on the edge of the wastes to spend the night. When he got there as dust settled, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, worrying as he read the text from Nanaki.

 _'Lifestream fluctuating b careful will keep updated.'_

Cloud frowned. Nanaki always texted proper sentences. He must be monitoring his censors extremely closely to be distracted like that. Setting out his bedroll, Cloud tried to grab an hour or two of sleep. Sleep never came, too busy thinking over the texts he received. He wasn't overly concerned about Reno. With the amount of trouble that always followed him, the exSoldier was more concerned about Nanaki's text.

Why was the Lifestream fluctuating? Was Nanaki okay? Could Aeris still be reached through the church?

Thoughts whirled through his head, a leftover of the anxiety and lack of self worth he experienced as a kid. When the sun started coloring the horizon, Cloud got up, stored his supplies and continued his journey to Junon. He didn't necessarily have to sleep, but his clients did.

Arriving in Junon only took a few hours for Cloud. The exSoldier meandered through the streets to the Ocean side of downtown to his recipient's house. Pulling in front of the quaint little yellow house, Cloud parked his bike and opened the left storage wing to pull out the larger of the two packages first. Putting the smaller on top of the larger package, Cloud picked both of them up and turned to open the gate only to be met by questioning amber eyes staring back.

Cloud looked at the dog as the dog looked at him. It was clearly from the Northern Continent. It was quite large and rather fluffy. The two looked at each other before Cloud tilted his head and hunched a bit.

The dog sniffed the air. After a moment, he started to slowly wag his tail.

Cloud opened the gate and entered the front lawn.

The exSoldier smiled as the dog followed him, panting and smiling in the way that only dogs do. When he got to the porch and knocked on the door, Cloud smiled when a, "Minerva bless it!" echoed through the windows. The exSoldier smiled down at the dog, who smiled back, smiling and panting at him.

The door suddenly was pulled open.

"Oh my goodness!" The elderly lady exclaimed. "Them's my packages?" she asked Cloud.

"Yes Ma'am," Cloud replied. "Would you like me to bring them inside? The big one is a bit heavy."

"Holy Ramu, Child!" the woman exclaimed. "Come in! Come in!" she practically pulled Cloud inside. She turned back to the dog in the yard. "You're supposed to guard! GUARD! How's an old lady to feel safe with you doing things like that, Amarok?"

The dog just sneezed at her and smiled, before trotting back into the yard and sniffing around the fence.

"I swear!" the lady said as she closed the door, "that dog's supposed ta guard! Now nothing against you, lad, but a guard dog shouldn't let just anyone in."

"You're very right, Ma'am," Cloud said.

"Call me Granny!" the old lady, Granny, interrupted. "Oh but you could be my grandson!"

Slightly uncomfortable now, Cloud shrugged and said, "I asked him."

Granny eyed him before asking if there was anything she needed to do. Cloud asked her to sign a few places on his slips before bidding her to have a good day. Leaving the old lady in her house to open whatever it was she received. The pleased cackle he heard as he made to take the top step had him jumping to the lawn instead. Walking quicker than socially accepted, Cloud nodded to Amarok before leaving the yard and getting his motorcycle ready to go.

Just before his turned the key over, the exSoldier's PHS chimed. Puzzled over who would send him a text first thing, Cloud flipped the device open.

 _"Bad storm. May hit land tonight. Hurry back. XIII"_

Cloud frowned. That wasn't good. He wouldn't make it to Midgar before dark. Pulling his goggles off his head and settling them over the bridge of his nose, Cloud brought Fenrir roaring to life. Revving the engine, Cloud took off to the edge of town to loop around Junon. Hopefully the speed of his bike would have him back to the cave in the buttes. He'd at least be safe there.

With that last thought, Cloud shifted gears and was nothing but a cloud of dust moving north towards Midgar across the plains. The air of

* * *

 _posted 28september2016_


End file.
